Hair

You cant go wrong with Hair. The latest wildly successful remount, now on national tour, surprised many by winning the Best Revival of a Musical Tony Award away from West Side Story last year. Although the show carries with it notions of what meant Broadway risk back in 1968 (a nearly non-existent book, pop-rock music, hippies bashing the establishment, carefree sexuality, and, of course, notorious nudity), it now seems one of the few cant-miss musicals. (Just try to do My Fair Lady minus a lady able to top I Could Have Danced All Night with a decent high G.) But youre set when these unabashed beauties of both sexes bare all and burst into song. Diane Paulus directed this go-round, yet the lift and liberation comes from the Ragni/Rado/McDermott score. It veers from sexually subversive (Sodomy) to plaintive hurt (Easy to Be Hard) to a majestic finale of mournful optimism. When the cast soars into Let the Sun Shine In, your heart still pushes right up into your throat. You dont even need to equate the Iraq War with the original productions slam against Vietnam. Hair at its most potent is a simple plea to unleash the power of love. All these years later, that feels as necessary and nearly impossible to deny as ever. STEVE WIECKING [Also see Kevin Phinney's review.]